I'm sure you probably all have heard by now, but there has been a foot and mouth outbreak on a farm near where I live in Guildford. The farm has been contained in a 3km exclusion zone, but the most worrying thing is where did the disease originally come from and how many cattle were moved from the farm before the infection was realised.

The action taken seems to have been swift and hopefully the outbreak will be contained to this one farm.

It is very worrying and although there is always a chance of an outbreak, I didn't imagine it would be this soon after the last one. Having it so close to home also makes the problem even more real.

The article is at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6930684.stm

This post was last modified: 04-08-2007 08:35 AM by Xeract.

And the fair season is just starting. That is terrible...

Kingfisher

Bad news isn't it? Just seeing those last images of funeral pyres in 2001 left me with haunting images & when I read & watched programmes about the lives of farmers who were left devastated. Some farmers even committed suicide unable to carryon to build back up their lifetimes works.
My friend has 2 pygmy goats last time & was worried to death in case the man from DEFRA came because don't forget it's not only cattle, but sheep, pigs , goats , deer & exotic wildlife in parks like gazelles, impala etc. The list is endless.
I know that Longleat animal park were also worried to death because of the last outbreak as I was then watching the series on TV.
We have in the north west a couple of large herds of deer at a couple of stately homes so they must be watching the news avidly.
Lets hope that this outbreak can be isolated before it spreads or lots of economies will suffer not just the farming community, but rural economies,tourism , pastimes in the countryside & also the knock-on effect will have an impact on the general population.

This post was last modified: 04-08-2007 12:27 PM by tibbar.

Really bad news, I hope it can be contained but as has been mentioned it depends on how long the outbreak was not detected. The reaction by the government and DEFRA has been good so far, and I really hope the farmers will all be vigiliant when it comes to checking and reporting their own livestock.

On the subject of wildlife parks like longleat, I think I would shut the park down to visitors if I owned it. It would be terrible if all those animals were to catch the disease.

Hedgehogs are also susceptable to foot & mouth & in the 2001 outbreak hedgehogs couldn't be brought in or released & were supposed to be put to sleep. We are certainly keeping our fingers crossed that this doesn't happen again. We also deal with a lot of deer.
So far the movement of animals only affects cattle, sheep & pigs.

Caroline , are hedgehogs & I suppose badgers affected because they may spread it rather than suffer from it?

As far as I know, badgers have not been implicated & my understanding is that hedgehogs have been infected with the virus in the lab (for what reason, I don't know) but there is no proof that this has ever happened in the wild.

Interesting , please keep us posted

There was an update last night that suggested that the outbreak could have been caused by government and private testing plants for foot and mouth that are around 3 miles away from the site. This was because the strain of foot and mouth that was found in the cows is exactly the same as that used in the testing plant.

It is a shocking thought that a testing plant for discovering vaccines could have caused the outbreak, but it might also be a blessing as it seems the strain hasn't been passed on by anywhere else, meaning it might be easier to control.

That is a rather unsettling thought that the quarantine controls for the testing plants is not better. What other diseases are not being controlled adequately at the front and back doors of the testing facilities?

What if it had been anthrax?

Scary thought...

Kingfisher

It is very unsettling, like you say it could have been anything being tested in that lab and they should have strict safety controls.

The results from the inquiry are expected on Tuesday according to the BBC so we will soon know if the suspicions about the lab were correct.

On the one hand you want it to have come from the labs, as that way the outbreak can be explained and (hopefully) contained to a small area. On the other hand, as said, what confidence can we have in the safety of other establishments?

Our local big agricultural show is only a few weeks away. If there is a ban on moving livestock, the impact will be significant.

Hopefully, the government will not make the complete mess of the situation that it made last time. Fortunately, their response seems to have been swift this time.

I believe I mentioned elsewhere that even the big local Western Washington State Fair (aka, the Puyallup Fair) was affected in 2001. Yes, that's right, even in the western United States, the UK hoof and mouth outbreak affected the US county fairs. The Puyallup fair runs 7-23 September this year. I will be curious to see if the big signs warning about hoof and mouth appear this year.

Kingfisher

How did the UK outbreak affect the US? Was there an outbreak there or was it just a precaution?

There has been another confirmed outbreak today with some more cattle slaughtered. It was only several miles from the first, and within the exclusion zone that was already setup, so lets hope it is contained to that area.

This post was last modified: 07-08-2007 03:48 PM by Xeract.

Our local show was last Sunday, right after the outbreak! I didn't go, but I can imagine it must have been very disappointing to get the warm weather, and then not have any livestock at the show. Luckily horses are still allowed to be moved so there would have been some animals there.